You make a very interesting point about the info exchange between Bundesliga and J-League. Is this anything formal? Would love to see more details on this. Also, you mention Bundesliga broadcasts in Japan ... how easy/hard is it to follow Germany's top flight in Asia?

Another fiscally shrewd move by the Bundesliga was to sign a league-level information exchange pact with Japan's J-League, resulting in both leagues coordinating transfers between the two countries.
This has benefited both parties differently, with the Japanese players gaining access to much-needed European top-league experience, while Bundesliga benefited from additional broadcasting rights revenues here in Japan.
Some teams like Dortmund stand to gain millions of Euros from player transfers themselves, with Shinji Kagawa, now reported being sought by Manchester United and Chelsea for 15+ million Euros, netting Dortmund at least 14 million Euro profit, in addition to 2 league and 1 cup titles during his time there, the prime example.

I applaud the topic and compare/contrast of the Bundeliga vs. EPL. A few items worth commenting on -- 'not everything that glitters is gold' when it comes to German stadium investment. Yes, match day revenues as well as annual match attendance are both up, but the burden of paying off the world cup stadiums is on the Bundesliga clubs. Freshly relegated Kaiserslautern for example pays 10 Million Euros annually (regardless of what league they are in) in stadium lease monies the same budget they have available for player salaries and transfers. And, in terms of TV broadcast rights, SKY's near doubling of its bid to exclusively broadcast Bundesliga games in the future is a direct result of Deutsche Telekom's bidding war and Sky's realization that without Bundesliga coverage it will fold very quickly.

"Freshly relegated Kaiserslautern for example pays 10 Million Euros annually (regardless of what league they are in) in stadium lease monies the same budget they have available for player salaries and transfers."

There's nothing wrong with that. Same happened to many J-League clubs after 2002, as 12 clubs (and a baseball team, since Sapporo stadium is dual-use) forked out money to use one of the 10 World Cup stadiums (two venues, Saitama and Osaka, were shared between two local teams). Also, many stadiums sold naming rights as well to make ends meet.

True. I get that the glory of world cup participation and new stadium construction is worth the financial burden shared by the WC cities and Bundesliga teams, but for how long? Also, i think it is a shame that the only option for many clubs is to seek naming rights with companies and brands that often have limited longevity and have nothing in common with the club. In Kaiserslautern for example, the club exec committee has repeatedly turned down corporate sponsorship to save the emotional bond associated with Fritz Walter Stadium and its namesake, legendary local football hero Fritz Walter.

Author nailed it right in the head observing about Anglo-Saxon resolve and Teutonic efficiency. One detail though somehow evaded attention and, in a commercial way, somewhat puzzling - watching Anglo-Saxon resolve in its Premier League embodiment is incredibly more fun than any other soccer league on the planet. And it does not even matter whether it is Chelsea or Arsenal, lesser teams such as QPR and alike are also delivering so much excitement it is hard to understand how they can be unprofitable.

I don't think the Premier League is as interesting in the Bundesliga. In the PL you always have the same five or so clubs competing for the title (admittably better than in Spain, where only two teams have a real chance of winning) while in the Bundesliga half of the squads have a shot at it (and even big names are relegated from time to time because of the leagues competitiveness...ie Hertha BSC Berlin just got relegated, thus making the Bundesliga probably the only top league in Europe with no team from the capital city in it!).
As for wheter the quality of football in the PL is better than in the Bundesliga, I don't know for sure. But the English players certainly don't look like a case in point whenever they face Germany...

I'm not sure I would use the ineptitude of Hertha BSC as a sign the Bundesliga's competitiveness - they are simply an incredibly badly managed side and deserve to be relegated to the second division. Also, I disagree with your notion that half the Bundesliga's sides have a shot at the title each season. While the Bundesliga might be more balanced than, say, the Primera Division, it is still mostly Bayern and some other side (mostly Borussia Dortmund) fighting for the title with the occasional upset (c.f. Kaiserslautern in 1998, Stuttgart in 2007 or Wolfsburg in 2009) winning it. Looking at the number of teams winning the title since the EPL's start in 1992 the Bundesliga has six different teams winning the title while the EPL has five (the Serie A and Primera Division also have five but especially the latter is certainly heavy on its big two teams, Barca and Real). I would argue that the EPL is still a superior product to the Bundesliga which shows in its far wider appeal worldwide. However, the Bundesliga's financial prudence and independence from outside investors make its relative success all the more impressive.

"As for wheter the quality of football in the PL is better than in the Bundesliga, I don't know for sure. But the English players certainly don't look like a case in point whenever they face Germany..."

The Premier League players are overwhelmingly from abroad. Couple of years ago there was a situation in Arsenal when not a single player in the team was from England. English soccer team does not perform well lately in the international tournaments, that's true, but it has little to do with English Premier League per se.

Also, don't get me wrong - Bundesliga is a quite entertaining league. It is just Premier League is more so.

To imply German football clubs have benefitted from governmental support (by helping them to build new stadiums) more than clubs from other countries seems hardly fair. Looking at how Spanish politicians keep turning a blind eye to their clubs' financial distress (especially regarding unpaid taxes) or how Italian politicians use whole clubs as conduits to further their electoral appeal I am quite pleased with how transparent German political support for its football clubs has been. On a funny note, The Economist critizing German politicians for spending money on infrastructure investments (which certainly led to an increase in private consumption) made me chuckle in times of Merkelian austerity.